LPS Act

Background

The LPS Act refers to Sections 5150, 5151 and 5152 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. It is a California law governing govern the involuntary civil commitment of individuals who - due to mental illness - pose a danger to self, a danger to others, or who are gravely disabled and require inpatient psychiatric care. It was named for its co-authors — Assemblymember Frank Lanterman and Sens. Nicholas C. Petris and Alan Short. The intent of the LPS Act was to end inappropriate lifetime commitment of people with mental illness and firmly establish the right to due process in the commitment process while significantly reducing state institutional expense.

In the 48 years since its passage, there have been significant changes in the mental health delivery system, adversely impacting a patient’s ability to obtain prompt evaluation and treatment as required by current law. In addition, the fragmented and inconsistent application of the LPS Act by California’s 58 counties has led to an increasing and often inappropriate dependence on hospital emergency departments to care for this population, without the necessary resources. This has resulted in individuals with mental illness languishing for hours, days and sometimes weeks, awaiting psychiatric assessment and treatment.

The LPS Act currently lacks guidance for non-LPS designated facilities involved in an involuntary hold, resulting in wide variations in the application of the law from county to county, from city to city and even from hospital to hospital.

Below are some documents illustrating the current state of California's psychiatric services.

Page one: The top chart details the involuntary commitment process as envisioned when the LPS Act was written in the 1960s. The second chart describes how the actual process works today.

Page two: How the process will work after implementation of AB 1300.

Orange County Example Flowchart — Orange County has a particularly convoluted process for evaluation and treatment services. This chart illustrates just how complicated some counties’ rules are.

5150 Fast Facts — Details the percentages of beds in the state by type, summarizes ED usage and growth, provides an estimate of the number of 5150s written, and provides an overview of mental illness in America.

Multiple graphs illustrating the severity of the loss of psychiatric inpatient beds in California, dating back to 1995, including the patient-to-bed gap and the growth of California’s population.

A comparison of California vs. the rest of the U.S. in terms of beds and population.

The different types of beds available in California, listed by county.

A visual of bed distribution shown on a collection of maps.

Child/Adolescent Beds in California — Very few hospitals provide inpatient psychiatric services for children and/or adolescents. No data source provides information distinguishing between beds for those under age 12 and those for ages 12 to 17, combining them into an aggregate number. Through direct hospital contact, we have been able to produce this list breaking down child vs. adolescent beds.

Background

The LPS Act refers to Sections 5150, 5151 and 5152 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. It is a California law governing govern the involuntary civil commitment of individuals who - due to mental illness - pose a danger to self, a danger to others, or who are gravely disabled and require inpatient psychiatric care. It was named for its co-authors — Assemblymember Frank Lanterman and Sens. Nicholas C. Petris and Alan Short. The intent of the LPS Act was to end inappropriate lifetime commitment of people with mental illness and firmly establish the right to due process in the commitment process while significantly reducing state institutional expense.

In the 48 years since its passage, there have been significant changes in the mental health delivery system, adversely impacting a patient’s ability to obtain prompt evaluation and treatment as required by current law. In addition, the fragmented and inconsistent application of the LPS Act by California’s 58 counties has led to an increasing and often inappropriate dependence on hospital emergency departments to care for this population, without the necessary resources. This has resulted in individuals with mental illness languishing for hours, days and sometimes weeks, awaiting psychiatric assessment and treatment.

The LPS Act currently lacks guidance for non-LPS designated facilities involved in an involuntary hold, resulting in wide variations in the application of the law from county to county, from city to city and even from hospital to hospital.

Below are some documents illustrating the current state of California’s psychiatric services.

Page one: The top chart details the involuntary commitment process as envisioned when the LPS Act was written in the 1960s. The second chart describes how the actual process works today.

Page two: How the process will work after implementation of AB 1300.

Orange County Example Flowchart — Orange County has a particularly convoluted process for evaluation and treatment services. This chart illustrates just how complicated some counties’ rules are.

5150 Fast Facts — Details the percentages of beds in the state by type, summarizes ED usage and growth, provides an estimate of the number of 5150s written, and provides an overview of mental illness in America.

Multiple graphs illustrating the severity of the loss of psychiatric inpatient beds in California, dating back to 1995, including the patient-to-bed gap and the growth of California’s population.

A comparison of California vs. the rest of the U.S. in terms of beds and population.

The different types of beds available in California, listed by county.

A visual of bed distribution shown on a collection of maps.

Child/Adolescent Beds in California — Very few hospitals provide inpatient psychiatric services for children and/or adolescents. No data source provides information distinguishing between beds for those under age 12 and those for ages 12 to 17, combining them into an aggregate number. Through direct hospital contact, we have been able to produce this list breaking down child vs. adolescent beds.

The map below identifies 100 hospitals in California that are designated by the counties to receive LPS 5150 patients. To filter by county, use the drop-down menu on the left-side of the map. To search by a location (city or zip code), type in selection in the query field on the right-side of the map. The default view is “Street,” but you may also select “Terrain,” “Satellite,” or “Hybrid” view (which is Satellite + Street).